Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Potato, Parsnip and Apple Puree

Recipe Source: Johnson, Margaret M.  The New Irish Table.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2003 p. 111

I'm really making an effort to eat more seasonally.  There's just one problem with that: I don't actually care for a lot of late fall/ winter produce.  It tends to be too sweet for me.  Carrots, sweet potatoes, squash - they all seem so sweet as to be downright sickly.  I remember sitting there with a relative "helpfully" trying to give me advice on losing weight and she was sitting there telling me, "Well, you should eat sweet potatoes.  They'll satisfy your cravings for sweet foods and you'll lose weight because you're not eating treats."  I tried explaining to her that I don't actually get sweet cravings, but it went in one ear and out the other.  I'm fat, so of course I'm gorging myself on cake every day.

But I digress.  The fact is that I want to eat more in keeping with the seasons, so I'm trying to find ways to make these foods in ways that don't make me want to throw up.  (Was that too much description?)  I generally find parsnips to be less repulsive than carrots.  They're a lot more bland than carrots, but they're also a lot less repulsive.  I wanted to use apples in more savory dishes as well, so I decided that this dish was a good fit for a recent Sunday open house.

I made a few changes, but you knew that I would.  I used Macintosh apples because they were the oldest apples in my pantry instead of Granny Smiths, which I would have had to go purchase special for this dish.  I omitted the butter because I like to try to cut out fat where I can.  I used 2% milk instead of whole because that's what we keep on hand for Fearless Baby.  I omitted the parsnip crisps because they didn't seem particularly exciting to me.  Finally, I added 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the mixture to give it a little more depth.

The result was surprisingly good.  My guests seemed to enjoy it despite the fact that it kind of looked like porridge.  The apple flavor came through very nicely.  (I could go on a rant on how when you use local, seasonal produce it tastes like what it's supposed to be instead of like paste, but that would be a little off topic.)  Resist the urge to add more spice to this dish; more of either spice would overpower the vegetables and fruit.

Potato, Parsnip and Apple Puree (serves 8; approx. $0.76/serving)

2 pounds parsnips, peeled and chopped

2 pounds baking potatoes, chopped

1/2 cup water

5 Macintosh apples, peeled, cored and chopped

2 cups milk

Kosher salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Equipment:

• 2 large saucepans
• 1 medium saucepan
• Colander
• Potato masher

1. Put the potatoes and parsnips in one of the large saucepans with salted water to cover.
2. Bring to a boil.  Cook 20 - 25 minutes or until tender.  Drain and mash.
3. Combine the 1/2 cup water with the apples in the medium saucepan.
4. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over low heat 20 - 25 minutes.  Drain.
5. Combine the apples with the parsnip mixture in the second saucepan.  Mash well with the potato masher.
6. Add the milk and spices.  Heat over medium heat until warmed through, continuing to mash until the mixture arrives at your desired consistency.
7. Serve.

Recipe: Champ

Recipe Source: Johnson, Margaret M. The New Irish Table. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2003 p. 101

This is the last dish that I brought to our joint Purim/St. Patrick's Day party. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this year the hostess wanted Irish food instead of the Persian food we usually serve. I wallowed in the opportunity to use potatoes. You see, I love potatoes. I actually eat them raw. I take the little new potatoes, wash them off and eat them like apples. I love potatoes so much that I rarely cook with them because I know that I will not be able to contain myself. While potatoes are not necessarily fatty in and of themselves, they are a very starchy food and starchy foods are high in calories. On such an occasion, though, I figured that I could let myself go just a little bit.

I made a few changes, mostly to lighten up the recipe. I left the peels on the potatoes, since most of the nutritional value of the potato is in the peel. I used milk instead of half and half, reduced the cooking fat by half and used olive oil instead of butter. I realize that butter is more traditional, but I didn't feel that we needed quite so much saturated fat. I added some garlic to the scallions and finally I added some nutmeg to the seasoning at the end.

I was not the only one to love this dish, which I strongly suspect will be making further appearances on our table. I did get the last of it, though, and I didn't feel even a little bit guilty about it!

Champ (serves 4; approx. $1.23/serving)

2 pounds boiling potatoes, diced

½ cup milk

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 bunches scallions, sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Potato masher
• Sauté pan

1. Put the potatoes in the saucepan and fill with salted water. Bring to a boil.
2. Boil the potatoes until they are tender, then drain and mash thoroughly.
3. Heat the oil in the sauté pan.
4. Add the scallions and garlic. Sauté until the garlic is fragrant.
5. Add the milk and cook until the garlic is relatively soft.
6. Mix the skillet mixture into the mashed potatoes.
7. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix well and serve hot.

Recipe: Fisherman’s Pie

Recipe Source: Lennon, Biddy White and Georgina Campbell. Irish Food & Cooking. Anness Publishing, London, 2007 p. 124

Several years ago we started celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim with some friends of ours. We aren't Jewish ourselves, but our friends are and frankly Purim is a fun holiday that is well worth celebrating. I think that our tradition started, or at least some of the traditions that we've come to enjoy in our own celebrations, the year that Purim fell on St. Patrick's Day. Anyway, due to scheduling and other conflicts, while Purim did not actually take place on St. Patrick's Day this year our celebration did. Usually I make Persian food for the dinner, because the story takes place in what is now Iran, but this year we had the party at our friends' house. Our friend was really keen to do Irish food this year, so that's what we did.

I made a few changes to the recipe, although they seem quite small in hindsight. While the fresh fish that I used was the requisite haddock (locally caught haddock, actually, which made me pretty happy), the smoked fish was trout. It was my only option at this particular market, salmon seeming wildly inappropriate somehow, and I like smoked trout better anyway. I used a whole lemon while cooking the fish because my husband likes lemon very much. I changed the parsley out in favor of marjoram, which I thought would match nicely with the lemon.

This dish was a real hit. I was okay with it, which is actually saying an awful lot because I usually abhor mixing fish and dairy like this. The rest of the party seemed pretty delighted. I think that using the smoked fish was really essential here, so don't leave it out. The original recipe claimed to serve 4; but if you're serving any kind of side dish at all you should have no problem getting a good 6 servings out of this.

Fisherman's Pie (serves 6; approx. $4.80/serving)

1 pound haddock fillet, cut into pieces

8 ounces smoked trout, cut into pieces

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup water

1 lemon, sliced

1 bay leaf

Stalks from about ¾ bunch fresh marjoram

4 tablespoons butter, divided

¼ cup flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice or more to taste

Leaves from about ¾ bunch fresh marjoram, chopped

Black pepper to taste

1 pound potatoes, boiled and mashed

Equipment:

• Strainer
• Casserole dish
• 2 medium saucepans

1. Preheat your oven to 375 ̊.
2. Layer the lemon slices on the bottom of one saucepan. Add the fish, milk, water, bay leaf and marjoram stalks.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the haddock is fully cooked.
4. Strain out about 1 ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. I had to top mine off with more milk, but you might not need to do so. Set the fish aside to cool a bit and discard the solids from the pan.
5. When the fish is cool enough to handle, flake the fish.
6. In the other pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.
7. Add the flour. Stirring constantly, cook until the flour is just beginning to toast.
8. Add the reserved cooking liquid slowly, stirring constantly to make a very thick sauce.
9. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, fish, and pepper.
10. Lubricate the casserole dish with your lubricant of choice. I'm a cooking spray girl myself but to each her own.
11. Spread the fish mixture over the bottom of the casserole.
12. Top with the mashed potatoes. Dot with the remaining butter.
13. Bake 20 minutes.
14. Serve hot.

Recipe: Lamb and Carrot Stew

Recipe Source: Lennon, Biddy White and Georgina Campbell. Irish Food & Cooking. Anness Publishing, London, 2007 p. 143

I purged my freezer again. It's amazing the stuff that winds up in there. I don't know where half of it even comes from. During this Great Purge I found some stewing lamb that I'd purchased a while ago. In my defense, I did intend to freeze it; the cut I bought isn't readily available here and frankly the price was outstanding. I decided to thaw the lamb and use it for a stew later in the week. Well, the dish went right back into the freezer and got frozen for a little while longer, and do you know what? It wasn't a problem at all. When we finally got around to eating it (er, last Friday) it showed no ill effects from the freezing.

I made a few changes to the recipe. I added a little more barley, because I felt that it really needed a little more body. I also added a jalapeno and a poblano to the onions. I did this because I had them on hand and wanted to use them up, but I think it added a very nice flavor to the dish and cut down on the excessive sweetness of the carrots. The result was surprisingly delicious – the chilies did not add too much heat to the dish, but it did give it a certain depth that I certainly appreciated. Our daughter got a small taste of the stew and she seemed to like it too.

Lamb and Carrot Stew (serves 6; approx. $2.98/serving)

1 ½ pound bone-in stewing lamb, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 onions, sliced

1 ½ pounds carrots, sliced

6 celery stalks, sliced

¼ cup pearl barley

Water to cover

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 poblano chili, chopped

1 jalapeno chili, chopped

Equipment:

• Dutch oven or very large saucepan

1. Heat the oil in the Dutch oven and brown the lamb.
2. Add the vegetables to the pot and fry briefly with the lamb.
3. Add the barley and water to cover. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.
4. Cover and simmer until the meat is very tender, about 1 ½ hours.
5. Serve.

Recipe: Boxty

Recipe Source: Johnson, Margaret M. The New Irish Table. Chronicle Books, San Francsico, 2003 p. 102

It is time for me to share one of the traumas of my childhood with you. My mother loves latkes, potato pancakes that are a traditional part of Hanukah. Her birthday falls in December, so it's not even usually inappropriate to serve them around her birthday. Every year when I was a kid my grandmother used to make latkes for my mother for her birthday. The thing was, she had pretty bad arthritis in her hands and couldn't really grate the potatoes and onion. I got to help out.

You may be wondering, "What makes this so traumatic? You got to spend time in the kitchen cooking with your grandmother!" Well, there were two problems with this. The first problem is that my mother had other favorite foods that were often served for her birthday, and one of those was cabbage. My grandmother's kitchen, which was normally filled with the scents of Paradise itself, reeked like a charnel house. The other problem is that I am very, very strongly affected by onions. They don't just make me cry, they make my eyes swell shut. Most of us need our eyes when we are grating things on the box grater. Otherwise the food tends to involve a little more protein and iron than intended, in the form of grated knuckles. So there I was, bleeding, blind and trapped in what smelled like a horror movie. It was awful. For years I wouldn't even go to Hanukah parties because I was afraid of the latkes.

Now, of course, I am a grown-up. Well, legally an adult anyway. I have my own kitchen (from which cabbage is firmly banned) and a food processor. I was trying to think of new and interesting recipes to make for one of our Sunday dinners and I came across this recipe. It is an Irish recipe. It has an Irish name. But as I was making this recipe the most astonishing realization came to me. I was making latkes. I was making latkes and I was liking it. Not only that, but I was not bleeding and (thanks to Cuisinart) I was not blind. Joy!

Boxty (serves 13; approx. $0.22/serving)

1 pound boiling potatoes, grated

1 large onion, grated

2 eggs, beaten

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons (or more) olive oil

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Large frying pan

1. Squeeze as much of the liquid from the potatoes as you can. Cheesecloth will help this process immensely. Add them to the bowl.
2. Add the onion, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and flour. Mix very well.
3. Heat some of the oil (about 2 tablespoons) in the frying pan.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of the potato mixture at a time to the pan. Fry until golden. You can cook more than one little pancake at a time, but don't overcrowd the skillet. Add more oil as needed while you cook.
5. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Cornish Hens with Apricot, Port and Balsamic Sauce

Recipe Source: Johnson, Margaret M.  The New Irish Table.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2003 p. 74

On one recent soggy Sunday evening, I was preparing to make our Sunday dinner when the phone rang.  It was our close friends with a spontaneous urge for sushi.  Since nothing drives away the gloom of the soggiest weekend anyone can remember for a very long time like the company of good friends, we of course said yes.  There was a stipulation, though.  I'd planned meals for both Sunday and Monday.  In order to avoid food waste, they had to come over and eat our food on Monday, when I made the dishes for both Sunday and Monday.  They were more than happy to agree to this, since Monday was projected to make Sunday look downright dry.  This was the main course.

The funny thing about this recipe is that while it was the most complicated recipe I was making, and certainly the prettiest recipe I was making, it was easily the least impressive in terms of flavor.  The flavors in this dish are very, very mild.  I like big, bold flavors like those found in the Mediterranean.  As a result, I guess I was a little disappointed in the results.  However, the dish was certainly not bad and tasted just right on a nasty, rainy March day.  The only changes I made were to use turkey bacon instead of pork bacon and Lemony Vegetable Broth instead of chicken broth. 

Cornish Hens with Apricot, Port and Balsamic Sauce (Serves 4; approx. $4.30/serving)

2 Cornish hens, halved down the center

8 slices turkey bacon

4 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

1/2 cup port

1 cup red wine

4 ounces dried unsulphured apricots, finely chopped

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• 2 saucepans
• Roasting pan

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Put the hens in the roasting pan with the skin side up. 
3. Sprinkle the halves with pepper and cover with 2 slices of bacon each.
4. Bake 15 minutes. 
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake another 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and discard the bacon.  Really.  (You can go ahead and eat the bacon if you want, or feed it to the dog.)
7. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil and simmer 10 - 15 minutes.  Reduce to about 1 cup.
8. In the second saucepan, combine the port and wine.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup. 
9. Pour the broth into the wine.  Add the apricots and vinegar.
10. Cook 8 - 10 minutes over low heat.  The sauce should be reduced by 1/3 and should be thickened.  Season with salt and pepper. 
11. Plate the hens on a serving platter.  Drizzle with the sauce, serving the remaining sauce on the side.
12. Serve. 

Recipe: Thrice-Cooked Jerusalem Artichokes

Recipe Source: Lennon, Biddy White and Georgina Campbell.  Irish Food & Cooking.  Anness Publishing, London, 2007 p. 185

I think that sunchoke season is probably just about over, which is really too bad.  These tubers are a great little winter vegetable, making tasty and hearty side dishes.  I made this for my in-laws during their last visit here.  I made a couple of changes to the original recipe.  First and foremost, I omitted the salt to accommodate their dietary preferences.  I don't recommend this change unless strictly necessary; salt is an important part of the chemical reaction in most cooking processes.  Secondly, I omitted the butter, also as an attempt to make the recipe "healthier."  Unfortunately, that resulted in some really sickly-looking tubers.  I had to saute them at the end of the roasting period to get the right texture and an appetizing appearance.  Finally, I seasoned the dusting flour with black pepper and dried basil instead of salt.  This added a certain Mediterranean flavor to what was otherwise a pretty Irish dish. 

Thrice-cooked Jerusalem Artichokes (serves 4; approx. $1.17/serving)

1 1/2 pounds Jerusalem artichokes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon dried basil

Equipment:

• Bowl
• Shallow bowl or plate
• Roasting pan
• Large saucepan
• Colander 
• Saute pan

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Fill the bowl with water and the lemon juice.
3. Peel the sunchokes and trim until they're all about the same size.  Drop the pieces into the acidulated water as you cut them.
4. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil. 
5. Boil 5 minutes and drain.
6. Combine the flour, pepper and basil in the shallow bowl.  Dredge the artichoke pieces in the flour and transfer to the roasting pan.
7. Roast 30 minutes; remove from heat.
8. Heat the oil in the saute pan. 
9. Add the Jerusalem artichokes.  Saute just until the vegetables take on a pleasing appearance.
10. Serve.

Recipe: Turnips Anna Livia

Recipe Source: Johnson, Margaret M.  The New Irish Table.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2003 p. 114

I know I've said this before, but until I started living with my husband I had never consumed a turnip.  I'd seen them before.  I'd ask Uncle Lou (in Produce) what they were, and he'd say "Turnips."  If I asked him what they were for, well, I can't remember what he said, but suffice it to say that they did not figure prominently in his culinary repertoire.  Then I discovered that my husband loves them.  I don't love them, but I don't hate them either, and I'll admit that I do get excited if I find a new way to make them for him. 

This is a side dish.  At least, it's in the side dish section.  It is, however, more than substantial enough to be a main dish.  I made a few changes, as I do.  I didn't have either fresh thyme or fresh rosemary, so I substituted dried thyme and dried tarragon.  I have also found that I can't handle pork these days, so I used turkey bacon.  Do not use turkey bacon.  Use the real stuff, or use beef bacon.  The turkey bacon was a major disappointment in this recipe.  Other than the distressing turkey bacon, I'd say that this dish came out quite well.  My husband really liked it, so that's a good thing. 

Turnips Anna Livia (serves 6; approx. $1.56/serving)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup flour

2 ounces grated Cheddar

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon rosemary

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 pounds turnips, peeled and thinly sliced

6 slices bacon (pork or beef, not turkey!) cooked and crumbled

1/4 cup heavy cream

Equipment:

• 2 9" pie plates
• Bowl
• Pie weights (I use dried beans)

1. Preheat your oven to 450.
2. Lubricate one of the pie plates with some of the melted butter.
3. Combine the flour, cheese, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and nutmeg in the bowl.
4. Arrange a layer of turnip slices on the bottom of the pie plate.  Top with some of the cheese mixture and then some bacon.  Drizzle with some of the butter.
5. Repeat until all of the ingredients have been used up. 
6. Lubricate a piece of foil and cover the top of the pie plate.
7. Place the second pie plate on top of that and fill with the pie weights. 
8. Press firmly, then bake the entire contraption 40 - 45 minutes or until golden.
9. Remove from oven.  Loosen the edges with a spatula. 
10. Let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter and cut into wedges. 

Recipe: Game Pie

Recipe Source: Lennon, Biddy White and Georgina Campbell.  Irish Food and Cooking.  Anness Publishing, London, 2007 p. 164

This is a tasty, hearty dish for Fall.  The original recipe called it "adaptable" and let me tell you that I made sure of that.  I made a few changes, then I made a few more.  I also cooked the finished pie on the Big Green Egg, which gave it a wonderful color and a delicious, rustic, cooked-on-a-wood-fire flavor.  Since it's so adaptable, feel free to use whatever bird (and stewing meat) is available to you, just as I did.  I will warn you that some of the meat can dry out a bit if it gets re-heated a few days later.

Game Pie (serves 8; approx. $2.90/serving

1 duck

1/2 pound stewing lamb

4 ounces beef bacon (you can use pork bacon here if you can eat pork; it's cheaper and better)

4 ounces butter

2 onions, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup duck stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon lingonberry jelly (redcurrant or rowan would be more appropriate, but I had lingonberry open and taking up space in the fridge.)

4 ounces Baby Bella mushrooms, chopped

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 pinch ground cloves

8 ounces flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup butter, cut into "walnut-sized" pieces

Equipment:

• Food processor
• Rolling pin
• Large, deep pie plate
• Deep sauteuse or pot
• Big Green Egg (optional; this is the best way to cook it, but you can certainly do it in the oven and do it well, too.)

1. Combine the flour, salt, lemon juice and butter in the food processor.
2. Add just enough iced water that the ingredients come together.
3. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and roll out into a rectangle. 
4. Fold the rectangle into thirds, in on itself, and roll it out again.
5. Repeat step 4 three more times, then refrigerate. 
6. Remove the meat from the duck bones.  This will be kind of messy.  Discard the skin and fat and reserve the carcass for making stock (possibly the same stock you use in this dish!)
7. Slice the meat you've just carved from the duck into thin slices and set aside. 
8. Slice the stewing lamb into thin strips. 
9. Slice the bacon into thin strips as well. 
10. In the deep saute pan, cook the bacon until the fat runs. 
11. Add the butter.
12. When the butter melts, add the duck and lamb meat.  Brown the meats in the fats, in batches if need be, and set aside.
13. Cook the onions and garlic in the fat over medium heat.  Remove and set aside.
14. Stir the flour carefully into the remaining fat and cook 1 - 2 minutes.
15. Add the stock and make it into a fairly thin gravy.
16. Add the tomato paste, parsley, lemon peel and jelly along with the mushrooms.
17. Season to taste with the nutmeg and cloves. 
18. Return the meats to the pan and mix well.
19. Turn the mixture out into the deep pie plate. 
20. Preheat your Big Green Egg or oven to 425.
21. Top the pie with the dough you prepared in steps 1 - 5.  The crust should overhang the pie enough to make a seal with the scraps.  Do so. 
22. Glaze the top of the pie in whatever way seems best to you - I used milk, you can use egg if you like.
23. Bake 20 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat and bake at 300 for 1 1/2 hours. 
24. Serve hot. 

Recipe: Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Salad

Recipe Source: Lennon, Biddy White and Georgina Campbell.  Irish Food and Cooking.  Anness Publishing, London, 2007 p. 102

I made this for a recent Sunday open house.  I chose this recipe because it involved fish, and fish is good for your brain.  Also, smoked fish always seems kind of elegant, I'm not really sure why.  It was also a very easy dish that could be assembled quickly.  All of these factors made this a Very Good Dish under the circumstances. 

I made a few changes, of course.  First, I doubled the amount.  Second, I decreased the amount of oil in the dressing.  Third, I substituted smoked salmon for smoked trout.  I'd sent my husband to the market to get the smoked fish and that's what his preferred market had.  I did serve it with bread, but the bread will be posted later. 

Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Salad (serves 12; approx. $0.75/serving)

2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced

1 package smoked salmon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• You will need nothing arcane for this recipe

1. Whisk the oil and vinegar together with vigor, making an emulsion. 
2. Add the dill.
3. Cut the smoked salmon into bite-sized pieces. 
4. Arrange the salmon and cucumbers on a serving dish and sprinkle with the dressing. 
5. Season to taste and serve.